February 8, 2010
Moonlight
By Sara Teasdale
It will not hurt me when I am old,
A running tide where moonlight burned
Will not sting me like silver snakes;
The years will make me sad and cold,
It is the happy heart that breaks.
The heart asks more than life can give,
When that is learned, then all is learned;
The waves break fold on jewelled fold,
But beauty itself is fugitive,
It will not hurt me when I am old.
February 6, 2010
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
“Anytime you lighten the load of your servant, a reward is alloted to your scales on the Day of Judgment.”
Hadith Al-Bayhaqi
December 1, 2009
Minaretmuse is not a-mused at the Swiss minaret ban. Of course I’m biased in favour of all things minaret-ish (except for hideous plasticky ones). But what harm is there in a slender spire pointing to the heavens guiding our minds to higher things? It’s not as if they had a minaret-plague on their hands, there are only four in their entire country! Tch. In retaliation, I shall be banning all cuckoo clocks – now that’s a ban worth having.
My compatriots’ vote to ban minarets is fuelled by fear
Source: Chan'ad @Flikr
Tariq Ramadan
It wasn’t meant to go this way. For months we had been told that the efforts to ban the construction of minarets
in Switzerland were doomed. The last surveys suggested around 34% of the Swiss population would vote for this shocking initiative. Last Friday, in a meeting organised in Lausanne, more than 800 students, professors and citizens were in no doubt that the referendum would see the motion rejected, and instead were focused on how to turn this silly initiative into a more positive future.
Read the rest here.
October 5, 2009
I was blog-bouncing, like you do at 1.40am when you’re meant to be sleeping. And I came across this lovely idea of giving out little packets of sweets ( it’s not ‘candy’, I’m British) to share the love on Eid. And I remembered that girl in the Haram in Makkah. Let me tell you about the girl.
Source: Number-8 on Flikr
It was a few days after Hajj, and Makkah was filled with pilgrims from every corner of the world, just like every year. Only this year was different – because I was there, amongst the other 3 million or so. Finally, really there. But that’s another story – back to the girl. After Dhuhr prayers the mosque would empty out as much as it ever did during Hajj. Today I thought I’d sit and gaze at the Kaabah awhile, so I found a spot with a clear view to watch the circling pilgrims doing tawaf beneath the burning midday sun. And that’s when I saw her, draped all in black. I guessed she might be Iranian, she wore that kind of head-to-floor robe. She was young, in her teens or early 20s perhaps, with a sweet, solemn face. But that’s not what caught my eye. She stood at the edge of the circling pilgrims, carefully watching and would suddenly dart into the crowd, thrust something at a child and return to the edge to do it all over again. What was she doing? She held a bag which she dipped in to, and I realised it was full of sweets. She’d scan the pilgrims for children, then would pursue her moving target – often travelling a good way around the Kaaba herself, eyes fixed upon the child until she’d delivered her gift. All this was performed with a quiet determined air that made me wonder why she’d chosen this act. Was it in gratitude for a gift she had received? Fulfilment of a vow? Sadaqah in remembrance of a beloved brother or sister? Had she carried the sweets all the way from Iran?
Source: Number-8 at Flikr
Suddenly she was distracted from her mission. A tall, thin, bearded man with an Afghan-style turban and waistcoat had noticed her charity and had come to claim his share. She gave him a few sweets, but unsatisfied he sought more. She frowned and shook her head, pointing at the children for whom they were intended. ‘Though she tried to lose him in the crowds, he persisted and followed with open coaxing hands. She gave him another generous handful, he filled his pockets, and asked for yet more. I was irritated by his seeming greed, before remembering to offer him a few of the 70 excuses he was due – perhaps he had a dozen poor children who would be delighted when Baba brought them sweets today. Perhaps he had an old coughing mother in need of soothing sweets. Erm, maybe he was diabetic, in urgent need of sugar! Despite her attempts at stern refusal the girl had a soft heart and he knew it. After another reproachful handful was given, he was finally content and left with fat pockets and a happy smile.
Source: Number-8 on Flikr
The girl returned to her task, and I scanned the crowds with her , spotting children I hadn’t noticed before, perched safely on their father’s shoulders high above the crowds. Spectating from the sidelines, I cheered (silently) when she reached her target, and sighed when the crowds got in her way. But then after a while, glancing at my own empty hands, I felt a touch of shame. Thoughtfully, she had brought gifts for little pilgrims, something that hadn’t occurred to me during my selfish preparations for Hajj. I was like that Afghani man, who had come to God’s house to receive, not to give. I sat here with open begging palms, while she had busied herself serving the guests of Allah, spreading sweetness and light in His House. And isn’t that the basis for every life’s work after all?
“Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good – to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbours who are near, neighbours who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess: For Allah loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious.” (Quran 4:36)
“ Say: “Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the Worlds,” (Qur’an 6:162)
September 15, 2009
Mr Boota is a seventh generation drummer who just can’t help himself. I salute his dedication mash’Allah – I can barely wake myself up before dawn, never mind half my neighbourhood. I heard the traditional Ramadan drummers on a trip to Pakistan a few years ago. In the neighbourhood where I was staying the drummer was a Christian man and the tradition was to shower him with money and gifts on Eid as a thank you for his services the preceding month. I hope Mr Boota receives an appreciative gift or two this Eid – just to balance out all that abuse.
A few hours before dawn, when most New Yorkers are fast asleep, a middle-aged man rolls out of bed in Brooklyn, dons a billowy red outfit and matching turban, climbs into his Lincoln Town Car, drives 15 minutes, pulls out a big drum and — there on the sidewalk of a residential neighborhood — starts to play.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/nyregion/13drummer.html?_r=1
September 10, 2009
EcoIslam is the magazine of IFEES, the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences. It’s available for free download as a PDF from the IFEES website. Essential reading for followers of the Green Deen.
EcoIslam issue 6 (click to download)
“In this edition, we have a special report on the deforestation in Indonesia and the “Sumatran Declaration”.
Other articles include:
- New initatives from the Mindanao region of the Philipines
- Stopping Bird Hunting in Lebanon
- Green Muslims in Washington DC
- Update on the Prince Charles’ Rainforest Project
- Book review on “199 ways to please God” – The Green Religion
and much more.
Finally, please support IFEES to continue raising the importance of these issues through the production of educational literature, training programmes and supporting such campaigns. Your support will also help us to set up a global network of Muslim environmentalists from Aceh to Zanzibar. To donate please visit:
www.justgiving.com/ifees
Please support us now and forward to others who may benefit or support us. Thank you!
Best regards, Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES)”
August 27, 2009
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
“Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave than any one of you is pleased by finding his camel which he had lost in the desert. ”
Hadith Bukhari
August 26, 2009
Ramadan Mubarak one and all. Love this pic, found on Flikr by The Blind Glass, s’called ‘Gratitude without words’. And after 16 hours of fasting, gratitude is heart-felt, coming straight from the soul. Never thought a date could taste so sweet 
Source: The Blind Glass on Flikr
August 21, 2009
A saying of Shaykh Ahmed Zarruq (May Allah have mercy upon him):
“If you desire to live such that your religion is safe and your portion is full and your honour is sound, guard your tongue and never mention another’s faults, remembering you yourself have faults and others have tongues. Watch your eye, should it ever reveal the faults of others say to it ‘O my eye, other people have eyes too.’
August 13, 2009
